Interconnected ocean barges



May 22, 1962 G. ARCHER INTERCONNECTED OCEAN BARGES Filed Nov. 19, 1958 United States atcnt 3,935,536 Patented May 22, 1962 3,635,536 INI'ERCONNECTED OCEAN BARGES Gmdner Archer, 1713 21st St., Washington, D.C. Filed Nov. 19, 1958, Ser. No. 774,939 3 Claims. (Cl. 11 2-77) This invention relates to an articulated ship.

The invention is more particularly concerned with novel coupling means for adjacent ends of a plurality of barges which form an articulated ship.

The highly developed American push barge system is generally recognized as being the lowest cost method of mass transportation known but it is presently confined to inland waters. This invention proposes seagoing application of the invention.

It is a primary feature of this invention to provide a vessel or ship comprising a plurality of barges which are easily detachably connected in a manner as to provide articulation in the vertical plane only.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a ship of the type described wherein each of said units or barges is provided with concave and convex bearing-like surfaces at each end thereof and wherein adjacent ends of each pair of barges are pivotally connected on a horizontal axis disposed concentrically with said bearing surfaces.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of connecting means between the units or barges which perrnits articulated motion therebetween, while excluding rolling and horizontal swinging of each unit in relation to another.

A still further feature of the invention is the provision of a sea-going cargo ship which embodies a plurality of interchangeable barges whose adjacent ends include cooperating concave and convex surfaces, and retractable laterally extending pivot means including pins for said ends which are adjustable to provide full contact of said concave and convex surfaces, or by degrees to maintain contact only through the pivot means.

Associated with said pivot means is means to maintain said pivot pins to a preset load, according to which when excess load is on the pins, provision is made for automatic pivot pin retreat, thus loading the pivot pins with no more than a safe work load and transferring excess load to barge concave and convex surfaces. In addition to the automatic feature, a positive control is provided from the deck of the barge or ship.

A novel feature of this articulating ship coupling is found in its seaway performance for with articulation the ship relieves itself of internal stresses, as: torsional, horizontal and vertical bending moments.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a section of a seagoing vessel embodying a plurality of the novel articulated barges according to the present invention, and wherein the plurality of barges are illustrated in positions which they could assume when riding over uniform height ocean waves;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of adjacent ends of a pair of barges which are connected by the novel means embodying the essential feature of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view as observed in the plane of line 33 on FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional served in the plane of line 4-4 on FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the cooperating articulating ends of a pair of barges in perspective and wherein the barges are disposed in horizontal angular relation for a clearer disclosure of the formation of the ends for effective articulation of the barges about horizontal axes.

view as ob- The ship of this invention is of the general type of the Connector Ship, built in England in 1858 and operated 9 years in the North Sea with evident engineering success. The Connector Ship was built and operated under the guidance of Thomas McSweeny, the inventor, British Patent #1862.

Referring in detail to the drawing, wherein the invention is disclosed in accordance with a preferred structural embodiment thereof, the ships units or barges are desigmated by the letter B. The barge ends are all of like construction and each barge comprises a cargo carrying body 10 and as is more clearly shown in FIG. 5, one end of each body 10 is provided with a recess 11 whose bottom wall is concave both vertically and transversely of the body and such end of the body is further provided with a pair of projections 12 which are circular as viewed from the central vertical plane of the body and which have opposed inner plane walls 13. Each projection 12 further comprises a circumferential and transverse convex wall 14 and an outer wall 15 co-planar with a respective side wall 16 of the barge.

Each of the projections 12 is provided with a socket 17 which is defined by a frusto-conical side wall 18 and a vertical bottom wall 19 and the said frusto-conical side wall 18 converges inwardly from the respective plane wall 13 to the bottom wall 19.

The opposite end of the body 10 is provided with a projection 28 having opposed plane circular side walls 21 and a transverse convex peripheral wall 22. Said opposite end of the body 10 is further provided with a recess 23 disposed at each side of said projection 20 and in symmetrical relation therewith, the recesses having bottom walls conforming with the convex walls 14 of the projections 12.

As is more clearly indicated in FIG. 4, the projection 20 is provided co-axially thereof with a cylindrical aperture 24 which opens through the opposed side walls 21 and a cylindrical sleeve 25 is disposed within the said aperture.

The ends of the barge bodies 10 are operatively engaged with each other for pivotal connection about horizontal axes and for confinement of movement about said axes in vertical direction only in the manner described in the following.

Movably disposed within the cylinder 25 are a pair of pivot blocks or pins 26, each of which includes a cylindrical inner portion 27 and an outer frusto-conical portion 28 which cooperates with a respective frusto-conical side wall 18 of a socket 17. The horizontal center of the pins 26 must be at water level or lower.

As is more clearly illustrated in FIG. 4, the cylindrical inner portions 27 slidingly engage the inner wall of the cylinder 25 and the frusto-conical walls of the pins 26 engage the frusto-conical walls 18 when the pins are in their maximum separated positions and then constitute the only contact between adjacent barges in which instance the outer ends of the pins are spaced from the end walls 19 of the sockets 17 for a purpose as will later appear.

Means are provided for simultaneously moving the pins 26 axially toward and away from each other and such means, in accordance with a preferred structural embodiment thereof, comprises a pair of oppositely threaded rods or arms 29 which are connected to the pins 26 in a manner now to be described.

The rods 29 are moved laterally in or out by a mechanism which includes a gear box 31, supported as by abut ments or trunnions 32 from the cylinder 25 as is indicated in FIG. 3 and the box 31 is remotely operated by a shaft 33 which extends as indicated in FIG. 3 to an accessible operating position as for example on the deck of the barge, and the rod is provided with a small operating wheel 34 (PEG. 5). Under control of the wheel 34 there is provision for complete retraction of the pins 26 into the cylinder 24.

Between the rods 29 and the pins 26 are spring means for enabling the pins 26 to retreat from the frusto-conical sockets 18. This yieldable mounting includes a disc 39 located within the member 26 and at the side thereof next adjacent the gear box 31. The outer ends of the rods 29 are swivelled into said disc whereby the discs may be withdrawn under the influence of the wheel 34 and shaft 33. Between the disc 36 and the innermost central face of the pin 26 is a spring 30a which is securely fastened both to the disc and to the adjacent face of the pin 26. By this mounting, movement of the threaded rods 29 serves to draw the discs 35 inwardly or push them outwardly. The presence of the springs 30a permits the automatic retreat of the pins 26 when the work load overcomes the expansion pressure of the spring. Likewise, the operation of the springs serves to yieldably balance the tendency of the pins 26 to either project outwardly or retreat inwardly.

It is to be particularly observed that the cooperating concave and convex walls 11, 22 and 23, 14 are substantially of fragmental spherical form whereby providing pivotal movement of adjacent ends of the barges with a minimum of friction and it is to be further observed that the pivotal action is confined to a vertical direction since the engaging fiat walls 13 and 21 prevent lateral movement of the barges relative to each other.

While the pins 26 have a basic function of connecting the adjacent ends of the barges in operative association with each other, it is to be particularly observed that such pins when in their fully extended positions as shown in FIG. 4 transfer the load stress from one barge to another, whereas upon moving the pins inwardly by the wheel 33, the load stress will be taken by the cooperating concave and convex surfaces 11, 23, and 20, 12 which relieves the pivot pins of any possible damaging stress, whose function is primarily to prevent separation of the barge ends and the pivotal action results from relative movement of the engaging concave and convex surfaces which will preferably be of laminated plastic and the contact of the surfaces of the coupled barges will be lubricated by sea water. Furthermore, the pins provide for ready coupling and uncoupling of the barges which is efifected by moving the pins fully within the cylinder 25.

As is clearly shown in FIG. 4, the projections 12 and 20 extend the full width of the barges and the substantially large vertical bearing walls 13 and 21 positively constrain the pivotal action of the barges to the vertical only.

In use, a train of barges B are coupled by the means above referred to and the advance barge is preferably provided with a specially designed detachable bow while the train of barges is pushed through the water by a tow boat engaged with the rear barge in the train.

It will be obvious from the foregoing and from the accompanying drawing that the extreme opposite ends of the pivot pins and their respective receiving chambers having end walls 19 are located entirely away from the side walls of the barge, and hence those exterior surfaces of the barge are not interrupted but are continuous for frictionless passage through the seas.

With reference to FIG. 1 wherein the several pivotally connected barges are shown as in action upon passing over a series of uniform depth waves, it will be seen that the successive barges pivot about their horizontal axes with the result that the train of barges follows the contour of the waves.

Furthermore, as is indicated in FIG. 1, the under surface of the coupling at the ends of the barges substantially provides in any articulated position fair hydrodynamic form and minimizes the disruption of water flow.

The improved coupling means according to the present invention will permit a seagoing barge train the many economic and maneuverable advantages of the usual push tow. over ships, an example of which is that a push tow train of barges is capable of turning in a complete circle of a diameter equal to the combined len th of the push barge train, while normal ships must use a diameter 2 /2 times their length.

I claim:

1. A barge comprising a cargo carrying body having opposite side walls, one end of said body being provided with a projection intermediate the side walls and a recess at each side of the projection, said projection having opposite vertical walls, the opposite end of said body being provided with a recess intermediate the opposite side walls and a projection at each side of the recess having opposite vertical walls, said first projection being provided with pivot means retractable within same, and said second projections being provided with sockets for receiving said pivot means, whereby in a train of barges, said first projection of one barge is disposed between the pair of projections on a second barge with the first projection partially disposed within the recess in said second barge and the projections on said second barge are partially disposed within the recesses in said one barge and the ivot means in said one barge being extended into the sockets of the second barge for coupling same for pivotal movement in vertical planes with the vertical side walls of said projections in movable contact, said pair of projections having outer side vertical walls flush with the outer surfaces of said barge side walls, said sockets having frustoconical walls, and wherein said pivot means comprise a pair of pins including cylindrical base portions movably disposed within a cylindrical opening centrally disposed in said first projection and said pins further including outer portions having frusto-conical walls cooperating with said frusto-conical walls of said sockets, means disposed within said cylindrical opening operatively engaged with said pins for moving same axially of said cylindrical opening and into and out of position in said sockets, and means accessible from the bodies of the barges for operating said last means.

2. A barge comprising a cargo carrying body having opposite side walls, one end of said body being provided with a projection intermediate the side walls and a recess at each side of the projection, said projection having opposite vertical walls, the opposite end of said body benig provided with a recess intermediate the opposite side walls and a projection at each side of the recess having opposite vertical walls, said first projection being provided with pivot means retractable within same, and said second projections being provided with sockets for receiving said pivot means, whereby in a train of barges, said first projection of one barge is disposed between the pair of projections on a second barge with the first projection partially disposed within the recess in said second barge and the projections on said second barge are partially disposed within the recesses in said one barge and the pivot means in said one barge being extended into the socekts ofthe second barge for coupling same for pivotal movement in vertical planes with the vertical side walls of said projections in movable contact, said pair of projections having outer side vertical walls flush with the outer surfaces of said barge side walls, said socket having frusto-conical walls, and wherein said pivot means comprise a pair of pins including cylindrical base portions movably disposed within a cylindrical opening centrally disposed in said first projection and said pins further including outer portions having frustoconical walls cooperating with said frusto-conical walls of said sockets, means disposed within said cylindrical opening operatively engaged with said pins for moving same axially of said cylindrical opening and into and out of position in said sockets, said last means comprising a pair of threaded arms operatively engaged with said pins and having operative connection with manual actuating means.

3. A barge comprising a cargo carrying body having opposite side walls, one end of said body being provided 5 with a projection intermediate the side walls and a recess at each side of the projection, said projection having opposite vertical walls, the opposite end of said body being provided with a recess intermediate the opposite side walls and a projection at each side of the recess having opposite vertical walls, said first projection being provided with pivot means retractable within same, and said second projections being provided with sockets for receiving said pivot means, whereby in a train of barges, said first projection of one barge is disposed between the pair of projections on a second barge with the first projection partially disposed within the recess in said second barge and the projections on said second barge are partially disposed within the recesses in said one barge and the pivot means in said one barge being extended into the sockets of the second barge for coupling same for pivotal movement in vertical planes with the vertical side walls of said projections in movable contact, said pair of projections having outer side vertical Walls flush with the outer surfaces of said barge side walls, said sockets having frusto-conical Walls, and wherein said pivot means comprise a pair of pins including cylindrical base portions movably disposed within a cylindrical opening centrally disposed in said rst projection and said pins further including outer portions having frusto-conical walls cooperating with said frusto-conical walls of said sockets, means disposed within said cylindrical opening operatively engaged with said pins for moving same axially of said cylindrical opening and into and out of position in said sockets, said last means comprising a pair of threaded arms operatively engaged with said pins and having operative connection with manual actuating means, a spring element located between each of said arms and the corresponding pins and connected to said arms and said pins to receive and resist compressive force.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 696,097 Graham Mar. 25, 1902 1,702,708 Slocum Feb. 19, 1929 2,435,329 Stainbrook Feb. 3, 1948 2,453,155 Nelson et al. Nov. 9, 1948 2,661,228 Wilson Dec. 1, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,234 France Dec. 2, 1905 349,647 France Apr. 5, 1905 

